


Rogue Fire

by Blue_Hood



Category: X-Men (Movieverse)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Alternate Universe - Role Reversal, Genderswap, Role Reversal, Thieves Guild, X-Men Inspired
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-04
Updated: 2019-10-20
Packaged: 2020-10-27 02:15:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20752664
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blue_Hood/pseuds/Blue_Hood
Summary: What if Rogue and Pyro were switched? What if Rogue was a boy from an abusive home and Pyro was the lost girl with Logan when Sabretooth attacked.





	1. X-Men 1

**Author's Note:**

> Might make a sequel/prequel about Remy and Rogue.

Upon manifesting, Mark absorbed his father’s blow and his life force. His mother saw her husband suddenly collapse and her son staring at the spot where he was hit, putting two and two together. When she ran out of the room, he understood. Throwing some gloves into the bag he packed, planning to run away someday, he left. His jaded attitude matched his powers perfectly, making him a Rogue.

* * *

After burning her house down, Jane ran. Eventually hitching a ride with a trucker to Loughlin City, she cautiously wandered into the bar he stopped at. She jumped as she heard a man over the speakers announce “Gentlemen, in all my years I've never seen anything like this. Are you gonna let this man walk away with your money?” Noticing the fighting cage as she sat down, she watched curiously as large man entered the cage. The MC said “Ladies and gentlemen, our saviour!” He said something quietly to the new guy before gesturing to the other guy “Ladies and gentlemen, tonight's winner and still King of the Cage, the Wolverine.” The King of the Cage looked like he was gonna lose until the challenger kicked him in the balls. Then the Wolverine cut loose and destroyed the other guy.

Some time later, as people cleared out, Wolverine sat down at the bar and ordered a beer. One of the guys who lost to him in the cage came over, “You owe me some money.”

His buddy said “Stu, let's not do this.”

Stu insisted “No man takes a beating like that without a mark to show for it.”

“Come on, this isn't worth it,” his friend insisted.

Stu told Wolverine “I know what you are.”

The champion backed Stu against a post, metal claws extending from his fist on either side of the man’s neck “You lost your money. You keep this up, you lose something else.”

Jane noticed a gun being turned on Wolverine and shouted “Look out!”

Claws on his other hand sliced the gun in three and the man behind the bar shouted “Get outta my bar, freak!”

A few miles away, Wolverine stopped and found Jane stowed away in his trailer. “What the hell are you doin'?”

“I'm sorry. I needed a ride.” She stuttered “I thought you might help me.”

“Get out!”

Climbing out, she asked “Where am I supposed to go?”

“I don't know.”

As he began walking back to his truck, she asked “You don't know or you don't care? “

“Pick one,” was his response.

She called “I saved your life!”

Getting in the cab, he said “No, you didn't.” Less than a mile later, he stopped to let her in.

As they were driving, Jane asked “You don't have anything to eat, do you?” He handed her some jerky. “I'm Pyro,” she noticed his dog tags. “Were you in the army? Doesn't that mean you were in the army?” He shoved the tags under his shirt and she looked back “Wow!”

“What?”

“Suddenly my life isn't bad.”

“If you prefer the road…”

“No! I just meant- nevermind.”

“Put your hands on the heater.” He reached over to flip the vents open “I'm not gonna hurt you, kid.”

“It's nothing personal. It's just- I don’t know, forget it.” Staring at his hands, she asked “When they come out, does it hurt?”

“Every time. So what kind of a name is Pyro?”

“l don't know. What kind of a name is Wolverine?”

“My name's Logan.”

“Jane. You should wear your seat belt.

“Look, kid, l don't need advice on…” As he was turned to talk to her, they crashed and he was thrown from the car. Standing up, Jane was shocked to see the cuts heal instantly while Logan shouted “You all right?” He tried again as she struggled to escape the wreck. “Kid, are you all right?

“I'm stuck!”

* * *

Mark was tired of people trying to control him, he was not a weapon. A passing touch put a smile on his face. They thought he was a girl at a school for mutants. He made his way there to find the shapeshifter who bumped him. "Hey, the Professor wants to see you."

Mark shoved _ Bobby _forward, causing him to almost collapse in front of the adults. "What's going on?" asked Scott.

Mark scowled "Don't act like you care. I'm too dangerous, remember?" He looked down at the _ teen _he came in with, "Just a Rogue."

Giving up the charade to salvage the plan, Mystique stood to her full height in her natural form. Keeping it simple, she said "They don't want you, join us."

"I am nobody's weapon." Mark crossed his arms before a considering look came over his face, "But you're right." He edged closer to Xavier as he continued "They don't want me, unlike Magneto who's dying to have me." A smirk covered his features in an instant "I'm sure you wouldn't mind if I double checked." His bare hand slipped onto the back of Charles' neck as he mentally called 'sleep'. The telepath slumped forward a moment before Mystique collapsed. "Not a weapon," breathed Mark. He lightly touched the shapeshifter, taking a hit of her powers. Then he spun on the X-Men "Don't even think about it! You didn't want me. You don't get to just say sorry and start over! I'll stay here to wait out the summit then I'm gone. I won't go to classes and if you try to recruit me, I'm gone. Okay?"

Jean placated "Alright, just calm down."

Mark's broken laugh was haunting, "Don't pretend you care now." He swept out of the room, stuffing leather gloves in the pocket of his leather jacket.

When he saw Jane, he stopped brooding long enough to say "Hey, I'm Mark."

"I'm Jane, do you know where Bobby is?"

"Nope, I don't even know who that is."

"But, you-"

"That," he pulled her aside, careful not to touch bare skin "That was Mystique, she's a shapeshifter. Do you have a mutant name, Jane? Maybe something with your powers?"

"Pyro."

"Rogue." Mark asked "So you got fire powers then?"

"Yeah. Why Rogue?"

"People who get close to me get hurt because of my powers. Let's go find Bobby." When Jane introduced them, the other teen moved to touch Mark. He flinched away, "I'm not good with skin on skin contact."

"Sorry."

Mark brushed it off "There's this guy in New Orleans called Gambit, he can make stuff explode, I mean, stuff like playing cards. I think I'll head down there next."

"You mean you're not staying," said a confused Bobby.

"Nah. I'm just here until the summit's over and Magneto's moved on." Mark told Jane "For some reason, Magneto thought I was a girl which is why he sent Sabretooth after you."

Bobby asked "What's your plan?"

"Probably try to get that motorcycle and ride south."

"Professor Summers' bike?"

"The guy with the red shades?" Bobby nodded. "Might just steal it then." When the other guy paled, Mark said "Long story. I'm just here to wait out the storm then I'm gonna check out that Gambit guy. You got a mutant name?" Rolling his eyes when Bobby only looked confused, he explained "Like how Jane is Pyro?"

“I’m Iceman.”

“Rogue,” deadpanned Mark. “Look I’m gonna go.” He found a tree near the school and climbed before jumping onto the building itself to finish his ascent to the roof.

While he was trying to meditate, Storm interrupted to say, “That is not the safest place, young man.”

Glaring at her, he said, “You’re right. Especially when you don’t hear someone walking up because they didn’t walk!” Looking down at the air beneath her, he asked “Ya mind giving me a lift down? I need to find somewhere else to do this apparently.”

As she picked him up, Ororo asked "Why are you here?"

"You mean how'd I find this place, Mystique bumped into me and shared part of her plan."

"No, I meant why?" She set him down and he moved to walk away, "How about I show you your room before you disappear to do-"

"Meditate." Mark turned back "Fine, whatever."

* * *

Despite what he said, Mark took Scott's bike into the city to get his things and walked into Magneto's trap on purpose. He jumped out of his seat when the master of magnetism derailed the train, scaring everyone else "I know what you want and I'll do it, if you take your helmet off right now." With a triumphant smile, he did just that. As they left the train, the older mutant put his helmet back on.

When the quartet walked right into the police ambush, Mark’s hand shot out and a gust of wind threw the cops into their cars. A passing touch with just a bit of finesse could score him a mutant's powers without their knowledge. As they were traveling, he convinced Magneto to keep the helmet off and let him touch the older mutant, just quick taps but enough when combined with Charles’ telepathy to change his plans.

Finding his bike parked outside Grand Central, Scott recovered his wallet and keys from the lost and found. Upon realizing that Mark was sending a message, he checked his saddle bags and found a miniature Statue of Liberty. Storming into the War Room, he said “Liberty Island, that’s where Magneto’s attack is gonna take place.”

“How do you know?” asked Ororo.

Holding out the souvenir “Because Mark told us. He touched Mystique, he must’ve gotten the plan from her.”

“Then why walk right into Magneto’s trap?” asked Logan.

“Because he thinks we don’t care,” answered Jean. “He was playing us because that’s what he does, that’s how he’s managed on his own.”

“Do you care?” asked Logan. “You didn’t even know he was gone until the news ran that story.”

Jean hesitated before Scott said “We still have to stop Magneto.” That answered that.

Arriving at Liberty Island, they watched the Brotherhood duo collapse as a strange feeling settled over them. Mark flew down the stairs and looked at them, tilting his head. "I gotta make a call." He pulled out a flip phone, "Move in." Hanging up, he said "There's something I have to do." He hurried to Ellis Island, pressing against a wall. A dozen men ran through the confused crowd, robbing the wealthy men and women. After a moment, Mark's influence faded. The military and security personnel took aim at the robbers as the mutant teen led his elders back to the jet, "Mind giving me a lift, I'll get out of your way." He frowned, "Kinda wish I had more time, I know a few guys who'd love your place but a deal's a deal, Magneto's not coming after me."

"You can stay longer, the summit's not over yet," argued Jean.

"Still not going to class," sing-songed Mark. Grudgingly they accepted that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I thought about making Ice Bobbi instead of Bobby to put Rogue in the usual potential love triangle but decided against it. If you like this work, comment and give me ideas to keep it going.


	2. New Arrivals

A few days later, Remy LeBeau drove a grey compact sedan up to the school. He grabbed two bags from the backseat while two boys got out the other side. In exchange for keeping Remy from flirting with any of the girls, Mark would get Scott’s motorcycle. Joining his partner-in-crime, Mark took one of the bags and put an arm on Remy’s shoulder to stop him. The Cajun thief leaned over to let him whisper in his ear. He asked Remy to stick to people his own age, warned him away from Storm and told him he'd promised the man in the shades that Remy would stay away from his girl. Smirking, he said “Shades never said anything about keeping Remy away from him.” Running inside, Mark masterfully steered Jimmy away from people his powers would hurt and led both to the Professor’s office. “I held up my end, Scott.” Over the course of the few days he'd been there, the teachers had gotten used to his casual disrespect. Only Jean was ever addressed by her title, the others were Scott, Storm, Logan and Chuck. “Where is Chuck? Logan is the only one who has an excuse. Without his powers, he’s a deadman.”

Remy caught up and took the bags back, handing them to their respective owners. He introduced “This is Jimmy and Kurt,” pointing to each mutant in turn.

Mark swiped Scott’s glasses and clapped in front of his face a few times to make him blink so he'd realize his powers were negated. “Oh, for crying out-” He said “Storm, are your powers working?”

“No,” answered the woman in question as Jean confirmed hers weren’t working either.

“It’s Jimmy, he just turns your powers off through presence. I guess that makes him too dangerous to be here. If he got too close to Wolverine, he'd kill him, just like if I touch someone for too long.”

Scott opened his eyes and snatched his glasses back “We weren’t trying to single you out.”

“I had to break in!”

Remy snapped “Boys, y'all are hurting Jimmy’s feelings.”

Mark turned to the other boy “Got a mutant name yet? I was thinking Blackout, 'cause you blackout other mutants' powers.”

“That’s way better than Leech.”

“Rogue, Blackout, Gambit and-” he trailed off, pointing to Kurt.

“Nightcrawler,” answered the teleporter with a smile.

“What are we?” asked Rogue.

“We’re Marauders,” answered Gambit.

The younger mutants all smiled before Mark turned to Jean “Doc, exactly how long can Remy and I stay before we gotta move on? I know we can’t stay forever, we’re both thieves and I refuse to go to class. How long, Doctor Grey?”

“A few more days couldn’t hurt.”

Remy told Kurt and Jimmy “If either o’ ya don’t wanna stay after dat, ya can move on wit’ us. Alright?” They both nodded.

“C’mon Rem, let me introduce ya to a friend o’ mine while ‘ese boys get a tour.” To Scott, “Soon as Jimmy’s more dan a few feet away, yer gonna need those shades.”

“Yer accent is still terrible,” said Remy in a Yankee accent that was just as bad as Mark’s attempt at a Cajun accent. “We got a lot of work to do if we’re ever gonna pass for family, my friend.”

Finding Jane with Bobby, Kitty and Piotr, Rogue said “Guys this is Remy LeBeau, better known as Gambit.”

Bobby said “I thought you were gonna find him after you left?”

“I actually met him while I was hustling people in Chicago, he was on a job and I bumped into me. A passing touch, and suddenly I’m working with a master thief.” To Remy, “Show ‘em what you can do.” As he pulled out a deck of cards, Mark said, “Wait, got an extra deck?” Remy passed him an unopened box and he explained, “Remy taught me a few card tricks so I can play a distraction for jobs. He won’t let me actually train to be a thief until I can master his fighting style.” Mark looked at his mentor “Ya gonna show ‘em your mutation?”

“Ohhh, dat’s what you meant,” said the thief king before drawing a card. “Dis is why we work together so well,” a faint light traveled from his fingers to the card before he threw it in the air and it exploded. “Now, I can’t do dat to living things but I can charge a coat so,” he shrugged.

“Remy’s also slightly empathic, not that it stops him from being a heartbreaker.” Mark said “Personally I prefer juggling to card tricks but I don’t have any bouncy balls and those are the best 'cause they don’t break if I can’t catch ‘em at the end.”

Kitty said “We'll have to get some before you leave then.”

“Yeah.” Remy pointedly cleared his throat. “Oh right. Remy, this is Peter or Piotr Rasputin AKA Colossus, Kitty Pryde AKA Shadowcat, Bobby Drake AKA Iceman and last but most certainly not least Jane Allerdyce AKA Pyro.” The emphasis on Jane’s name was intentional, Remy did the same thing when introducing his roommate to his lovers.

“Nice to meet y'all.” Remy did a little bow for the ladies, “Mark an’ I are staying for a few days while a couple of our friends settle in.”

Mark asked “Do any of you have the kind of mutation that would hurt if it were suddenly shut down? Remy an’ I don’t, though I get a headache from having all those memories from time to time and they don’t go away when my mutation is shut down.”

Jane said “I don’t think so. Why?”

“One of our friends, Jimmy, has the power to negate mutations just by getting within a few feet of another mutant.”

“Kurt says it hurts if he goes in and out of range a lot,” informed Remy.

Bobby clarified “Kurt’s another one of your friends?”

“Only got the two right now. None of you would get hurt if Jimmy got close so maybe they could be your friends too.”

Remy said “That’s a great idea. Jimmy ain’t too sure about being around so many mutants. A few friends might fix dat.”

Mark explained “Logan’s one of those mutants who'd get hurt if they suddenly lost their mutation. Without his healing, he'd age fast. Without his strength, the metal that makes his claws shine would make his bones collapse in. He might even be old enough that he'd get sick just 'cause he didn’t get shots as a kid.”

“Dat is why Jimmy’s worried 'bout being around so many of us,” finished Remy.

“Oh my god,” Kitty said “I never realized- I mean-”

“After their tour, how about I introduce you? In the meantime,” Mark opened his deck of cards “I can show you some card tricks.”

“That sounds good.”

Remy tried to excuse himself, Mark set the cards down “Hold on a second.” He followed Remy out “I got a hit of telepathy from Chuck and it’s making my headaches worse. You charged up?”

The Cajun rolled up one sleeve, “Not really so just take a hit and Remy can sleep it off.”

“They're a bit judgy here, let’s go to our room first.”

Jean said “Actually you're next door to each other.”

“There’s no way in Hell that we ain’t sharing a room, nice try. Splitting us up so you can try to talk to Remy in private about why he should enroll me,” Mark laughed and led his mentor to his room. “I'll sleep on the floor or whatever. Thank you for this, Remy.”

Mark took one glove off and Gambit charged up, making a fist so the energy would be contained. Grabbing the offered wrist, he let his tenuous control slip, guzzling the bio-energy, for just a moment. He pulled his hand away and watched Remy collapse back onto the bed, most people would be dead. Channeling a little bit of enhanced strength, he pulled his mentor up so he wasn’t half off the bed before wrestling his boots off and emptying his pockets into the top dresser drawer.

Returning to his seat at the table, he began deftly shuffling again. The exercise promoted dexterity through a variety of tricks. Spreading them out on the surface, his hand continued its arc before his other hand swiped them up. Tossing the cards into the air and catching every single one, a combination of his and Remy’s favorite tricks. When he was done fidgeting, he held the deck in one hand inches above the table and dropped them slowly. He hadn’t even been thinking about what he was doing while he used every style of shuffling he knew but when he let the cards set for a moment, a round of applause went up alerting him to his enlarged audience. “Oh.”

Kitty chuckled “You didn’t notice-” she gestured to the crowd.

“Nope.” He split the deck in four before handing each stack to his friends “Don’t mix those up, just look at them. Pretend you’re holding a winning hand at a casino, don’t show each other or the bystanders. Alright?”

For his first trick, he sorted the cards through shuffling. “When Remy started to teach me card tricks, the first thing he did, naturally, was shuffle a fresh deck. He was so used to the feeling of cards in his hand, he didn’t realize that his style of shuffling was anything special. He caught me staring and slowed down then handed me the cards and told me to try, I dropped every single one on the floor of the motel room. He can focus his power so well that when I touch him, all I get is energy.” He chuckled “This, of course, means I can’t cheat and just touch him to get the secret to shuffling with style.”

Looking at each of them in turn, he noted they were all holding their cards the exact same way. “Now you can show each other but do not show the audience. Funny thing, I cannot do any of my tricks silently. I mean I can but not unless I have to. Maybe it’s because Remy taught me and he never shuts up unless his life depends on it, or he’s asleep or unconscious.” Bowing his head and closing his eyes for a moment, he looked up “Anyway, I’d like to point something out before I conclude this trick. Hold your cards the way you were before I said you could share.” As they did, he asked “Peter, when I gave you the cards, what were my instructions? Bonus points if you quote me.”

“You said to pretend they were a winning hand,” he slowed as it sunk in “At a casino.”

“Look to your left and to your right, what do you notice?”

“We’re all holding the cards the exact same way,” answered Kitty.

“Yup.” He made a beckoning gesture to Jane and Peter who were on the ends, “Come closer, put some space between each of you. This trick requires five people, well four if one can do what I did.” They moved their chairs apart, “Most tricks don’t require as many people or space so when we’re done, I’m gonna collect the cards and ask you to move back.” When they were far enough apart, he switched to a stop gesture. “Now lay out your cards in front of you for everyone to see.” They did and those in the crowd who hadn’t been able to sneak a peek when his eyes were closed finally understood the trick. “Did you know it takes almost as much skill to shuffle twice and undo the first shuffle with the second as it does to juggle, say, five objects? Now, I’m not saying that with any real authority, I kinda cheated when I learned to juggle but, I will say that card tricks, even the parlor tricks, are not as easy as they look. Okay?”

Mark looked around before standing up, “I’m gonna help each of you do half of a trick. I just need,” he took Peter’s hand, “To guide your hand.” He set the man’s hand on his own “I know it’s a little hard to feel through the leather, I wish Jimmy were closer-” The young mutant came over. “Nevermind, hold your hand like this for a moment.” He stuffed his gloves in his pocket and put a hand under Peter’s, “Hold your hand like mine, relax yours just like mine.” Once the other teen got it, “Okay now let me guide your hand, keep matching mine as I-” he moved his hand to rest on top and the larger mutant did as directed, swiping the cards back into a pile. “See? Easy.” As he repeated the action, each person needed less instruction.

Taking his seat, he said “Pass me your stacks and move your seats back. For my next trick, I don’t need any volunteers.” He did his juggling trick to shuffle and showed everyone the cards were mixed, “Jimmy, stay by me. I need you to keep my mutation turned off,” he looked at the boy “Can you do that?” The younger mutant nodded with a smile. “Alright and if I need a volunteer, I’ll pick you.” He began his spiel “Raise your hand if you’ve heard of solitaire?” Pretty much every hand went up. “Keep your hand up if you’re more than vaguely aware of the concept. I’m not saying you’ve played, just that you know more than the basics. I like to think everyone knows that solitaire is a solitary, or single-player, card game. Those are the basics,” as he played with the cards on the table, keeping them guessing as to the trick, Mark glanced up occasionally. “Alright, now only if you’ve played, keep your hand up. When I say solitaire, I mean all forms. Spider Solitaire, classic solitaire, Mahjong solitaire, pyramid, tri-peaks, golf solitaire, any kind of solitaire. Maybe you played Mahjong on a computer or something. Just keep your hand up if you’ve played.” He saw a few hands raised shyly and smiled “I see some didn’t know that Mahjong is a form of solitaire, either that or you thought I meant with actual cards. Nah, I’ve only ever played Mahjong on a computer because I was waiting for someone. For those of you who have no idea what I’m talking about, Mahjong solitaire is played with tiles. The rest of the games I listed are card games.” He made two stacks and did what was called bridge shuffling.

“Alright, I’ll quit leaving you in suspense, I can see some of you are about to just leave.” Unbeknownst to the crowd, he could see the underside of the cards when he dropped them after shuffling. He could also see the bottom of the cards when he drew three, seemingly at random, a sharp eye is something that card tricks can help develop. Dropping them one-by-one, he moved his hand to the left so each card fell beside its predecessor instead of them all falling on top of one another. “Three card monty is a hustler’s game, I’m gonna teach you the trick.” He took his leather jacket off and asked Peter “Could Jimmy have your seat? Sorry-”

Peter held up a hand to cut him off, “It’s fine,” his friends all stood and joined the crowd, which was still after all Mark’s rambling.

“Alright. Three card monty is also called find the lady, I can some of you were as clueless about that as Mahjong being a game with tiles. First off, the trick is normally performed by,” he showed them the three cards “Sticking the queen up one’s sleeve in a trade off while shuffling. To prove they didn’t do that, hustlers will repeat the trick with another card, making the queen reappear as they flip the cards their mark didn’t choose. This is dangerous. Partly because if you’re hustling like this, you’re bound to tick off the wrong person.” Looking at the crowd, he let out a sigh before saying “Since I can see I’m dealing with a lot of sheltered kids, let me explain what a hustler is. A hustler is usually a poor person based in a ghetto neighborhood, who makes money through scams. For three card monty, they’ll set up a little table and a folding chair. Maybe they’ll fidget with their cards a little and holler out to people, challenging them to a game. ‘Hey, you! Yeah, you, feeling lucky?’ That sort of thing. Remy, my mentor, would be very offended by being associated with hustlers.” Mark smiled “That is pretty much why I’m teaching you to beat this trick. A hustler pretends to be bad at a game, gets people to bet money and then suddenly gets really good at the game. When someone says you hustled them, they mean you did that. Alright?”

Waving his hand over the three cards in a dramatic fashion, he said “This is another trick you should be wary of.” He put both of his hands in his lap “What happened when I moved my hands over the cards?” They all just looked at him “Anyone?” More silence. “The worst thing that happens is you guess wrong then I tell you the right answer.”

Kitty said “When you moved your hand over the cards, we all looked.”

“Yup. That’s the first step to tricking someone out of money, make them interested. I explained how hustling works. You pretend to be bad, put money on the table and suddenly you’re a pro. Casinos do this legally, at least according to Remy.” He held his hands up in a ‘what will you do’ gesture “I’ve never been able to pass for 21 or whatever age you have to be to get in, I think it’s 21 because they sell alcohol. I wave my hand over the cards,” he demonstrated, “And you all look. You’re looking, you’re watching, you’re interested. I have,” he made a face as he pretended to think about it, “Maybe 30 seconds,” he shrugged, “to keep you interested. Thirty seconds, half a minute, to suck you in and get money on the table. And it’s not just casinos that do this, I may not know the exact number but I know it’s seconds then you’re losing money. Commercials, 30 to 60 seconds to sell you on the one thing you never knew you needed. Now, I can’t make you immune to that but I can teach you all the ways three card monty is played so that you can beat the hustler.”

He set his hands on the table in front of the cards “First thing’s first,” he slipped his jacket back on “Don’t know why I took this off.” He picked up the deck and looked through it, pulling out an ace of diamonds, “Notice the queen is a queen of diamonds but the other cards are a two and ace of hearts.” He tucked the ace in his hands into his sleeve and pulled his sleeve up “Nothing up my sleeves, right?” He got a few chuckles before pulling the card out “It’s funny now but if you hadn’t watched me put that there.” He reached into the other sleeve and pulled a jack of spades “You wouldn’t know. And I realize this doesn’t look like the others but another trick they do is make the queen a different color, like red queen and black jacks. The fourth card doesn’t actually have to look right because-” he put the jack back, returned the ace of hearts and flipped the others over.

Very clearly, he flipped the queen up his sleeve as he moved the cards away. With both hands, he waved to the cards “Okay, I lied, I need someone to pick a card.” Bobby pointed at one and it was flipped over to reveal the ace, “Oh, you’ll have better luck next time, except you won’t because you let me pick the card. Did anyone catch that?”

“Your hands,” Kitty said “Your gestures guided his actions.”

“Yup.” Mark said “The other common trick is to put another card underneath the queen. Even when you win, you lose. Now, if you know any card tricks I'll be happy to perform them.” Jimmy tapped him on the arm and whispered a suggestion into his ear. “Alright.” He had more than a few requests for his shuffling tricks. He even managed to introduce Kurt and Jimmy to his friends who stuck around after the crowd dispersed. Breaking convention, he sat with Remy at the adult table for dinner “Logan, if you really wanna try it then I think I could do that memory thing in a couple days. I need to take some of Remy’s energy before I can risk using my powers on you.”

When Scott started to sneer, the thief king said “Ah'm not afraid of him. Rogue and Gambit, we partners-in-crime.”

“Aw, he’s just upset he’s about to lose his bike for betting against me.”

“ _ Couillon _ , (turd of imbecile)“ the curse was said with a smile.

Mark laughed at their expressions before speaking in rapid French just to show off. Scott asked “What?”

“I'm bilingual,  _ couillon _ .” answered Mark with a shit-eating grin.

Still smiling, Remy corrected him, “Yankee is da preferred term.”

“ _ Couillon _ is the proper term,” argued Mark before turning sharply to Xavier “Stay outta my head, ya makin’ it hurt more shuffling those memories.”

“Why don’t you go hang wit' yo' friends while I have a talk wit' da Professor?”

Mark got up, picked up his dishes and walked over to Jane’s table. Jubilee asked “What'd you do to get kicked out?”

“Nothing, Remy’s threatening Chuck to make sure they don’t pull anything with Jimmy.” When that received shocked stares, he said “Let’s get one thing clear. Remy ain’t my daddy and he ain’t my uncle. He’s my mentor and I'm his apprentice, we're partners not parent and child. If he’s, how you say, entertaining and it gets too loud for me then I can get up and leave. I don’t have to run my plans by him and unless it has to do with my training, he can’t make decisions for me. Jimmy and Kurt, on the other hand. If they choose to stay here then for everyone’s sake, Remy will be their adult emergency contact. We all we’ve got.”

Bobby chuckled “Alright, got it.”

Mark calmed down a bit, turning to Jane “Remy ain’t gonna be in da Bayou anytime soon but we could still get together anywhere you like, I assure you it’s completely safe.”

“You just talked about him entertaining,” said Jubilee in disgust.

Mark smiled at the loud and proud mutant, “Dat’s Remy not me. ’sides, if he can help himself for a few days, Scotty’s going to give me his bike. He only gotta resist da ladies 'cause Scott said nothing about himself.”

“How are you going to manage that?” asked Jimmy.

“I told Remy that the doctor is off limits, said Storm might hit him wit' lightning if he tries anything and I told him to stick to people his own age. Then I told him that Shades only made me promise to keep Remy away from his girl. My guess, he gonna go for Scott 'fore anyone else and dat is well within the bet. Plus, we at a school in case you hadn’t noticed. All the students are like a built-in deterrent.”

Jubilee said “Your Cajun accent is terrible, for the record.”

“Yeah, I know. You should hear Remy attempt what we call a Yankee accent.” He said “By the way, if anyone asks,  _ Couillon _ means outsider.”

“No, it doesn’t.” argued Jimmy.

“I know that, you know that, the teachers do not know that. Why are you trying to rob a couple poor boys of their fun?”

“You're actually better without the accent,” said Jimmy.

“Strange, huh?” To the others, “You do me this favor and I'll teach you how to curse fluently in French, eh?”

Jane said “Deal.”

“I'm guessing that  _ Couillon _ is a curse word,” said Bobby. At their stares, he added “I'm in.”

Mark said “Alright. Jimmy, you like it here so far?”

“Yeah,” he agreed eagerly “People aren’t afraid of me here.”

“What'd we tell you?”

“And, it’s better than Worthington Labs.”

“A volcano is better than Hell itself.”

“Yeah,” Jimmy seemed to shut down.

“Remy ever tell you how we became partners?” Mark took his curious look to mean no, “So I was hustling over in Chicago when Remy bumped into me, stole everything I'd managed to get out of reflex and didn’t even realize what he gave me in return.” He chuckled at his own stupidity “I wound up wrecking his job, and I'm thinking 'this is it, this guy’s gonna kill me'. He didn’t, I'm not sure who I touched in my panic but he saw me use my powers, which just makes things worse until I realize he ain’t human.” Leaning forward, he pointed at his eyes “Remy call himself a devil child because of his eyes, vivid red on pitch black.” Sitting back, he continued, “Not that I noticed at the time, nothing that subtle cleared away my panic. Next thing I know, I'm in a hotel room with a thief king pacing in front of me and cursing in French, at least I assume it was French now that I know him. I was freaking out a bit myself. You can’t look like me with these powers and not have people seeing a thing.”

“What’s wrong with how you look?” asked Peter.

“I'm not a girl, throw in all the leather I wear to cover my skin and I look like easy pickings. Remy and I have used that, tricked people into trying to take advantage of me to get access.” Mark took a few deep breaths when he realized he was getting upset. “I botched his job and I didn’t exactly have a great life beforehand. Now, I know what he saw when he looked at me, and it wasn’t what everyone else sees.”

“What was it?”

“That’s for me to know,” Mark took a sip of his pop “I feel like I'm always dominating the conversation and while I was trained to do that, through the art of misdirection, I'm not trying to right now.”

Kitty said “I've been wondering why you want to be a thief.”

“I don’t, I wanna thief king. Thieves get locked up, thief kings rule. Not like I have many life choices. Right now, I gotta hope that Remy don’t get himself killed. The people who raised Rem have a tradition where they pay tribute to this entity and she gives them 'The Gift', which is like Remy’s power but most of them are human. Imagine if I got it, I'd never need to hurt Remy again just so I could get enough energy to touch someone. Now, like I said, it’s a tradition and I gotta prove I deserve to be a part of it then I gotta earn my keep so dat next time they pay tribute, I get to keep The Gift. Just like anything, there’s no guarantee. I run messages for Remy down to the Big Easy and his pa like me. There’s nothing they could give me here dat would give me such hope. Remy can help me learn control, the tradition gives me hope that one day I will be able to take care of myself without hurting nobody. All they could give me here is Chuck’s ethics, which he don’t even practice, and maybe weaponize my powers. Remy teach me to fight with or without. I say I got the better deal but it ain’t for everyone, I don’t like people, never learned to trust. You all got a chance at a real life, you all got gifts you can choose not to use, I don’t have that and I doubt Remy would take kindly to a buncha goodie two-shoes tagalongs. You already been partly indoctrinated, might as well get a diploma outta the deal. Imma head to my room.” He got up and left.

Kitty said “I can’t believe he could make crime sound like a good life choice. I mean, it’s not like his powers make him steal.”

“He has a point, though,” said Jane. “I can guess what people look at him and see, especially after they know about his powers.” When they turned to her, she wondered why she bothered “A weapon, they see a weapon. That’s what he was scared Remy would see: an easy way to make up what he lost in the ruined job. He had reason to think that way. Plus, didn’t you hear the Professor knew about him and decided he was too dangerous to be here? That’s why they let him get away with so much.”

Kurt said “Remy and Rogue will leave in a few days.”

Jimmy agreed “They're waiting for us to settle in. If we don’t want to stay here, Remy will find someone else.”

Bobby asked “Does Mark call himself Rogue because he considers himself a rogue mutant?” Jimmy and Kurt nodded, looking at him like he’s stupid for not getting it.

Jane asked “What are your mutant names? I'm Pyro, Bobby’s Iceman, Kitty’s Shadowcat and Peter’s Colossus.”

Jubilee said “You missed me.”

Bobby chuckled “Your mutant name is Jubilee, it’s what you go by in the Danger Room.”

“Oh, right.”

Jimmy said “Blackout, because my power makes yours blackout and it’s better than Leech, which doesn’t really make sense because I don’t draw powers inside.”

Kurt explained “In da Munich they called me the Incredible Nightcrawler, so Nightcrawler is my mutant name I suppose.”

Jane said “To be completely fair, Bobby and I didn’t understand mutant names until Rogue explained them.”

Jimmy asked Kitty, “What’s a shadowcat? Isn’t that mouthful?”

“I can move through solid objects.”

“What’s wrong with Ghost for a mutant name?”

Remy saw Mark leave and gave him a few minutes before following the younger mutant to their room. Lightly kicking him, the thief said “Get up, the bed is big enough for the both of us.”

Rogue stood from where he'd been laying on the floor, “Yeah, yeah.”

“Where'd you put my things?”

“Top drawer,” he pointed at the dresser.

“Got any clothes with you?” asked Gambit as he refilled his pockets.

“No,” Rogue said “I decided to hijack Magneto’s plan instead of risking a highway ambush.” He sprawled out on the bed, rolling onto his side with a coy grin when his mentor gave him a look.

“Ah figured,” Remy took his trenchcoat off and laid down, “Ah brought some wit’ me.”

“Rem, please tell me you didn’t tell ‘em what  _ couillon _ means.”

“As a matter o’ fact, Ah did not. Why?”

“I told my friends we’d teach ‘em to curse in French if they told their teachers  _ couillon _ means outsider.”

“Ah suppose it does,  _ mon ami _ .” With a sly smile, Remy asked “How ya doin’ wit’ da lovely Jane?”

“I think da’ Iceman is mo’ her speed. Ya shoulda seen ‘em when I explained what a hustler is.”

“Give up?”

“I took a hit of Chuck’s power when I got ‘ere.”

“Oh.” Remy was silent for a moment as that sunk in, “Ya know exactly what dey t’inkin’?”

“I don’t need telepathy for that.”

“Ah see.” Remy said “G’night.”

The next day, Rogue holed himself up in the library with a bowl of Ramen while Gambit wandered and the other duo tried classes. Nightcrawler had never attended a real school, growing up in a traveling circus. Remy realized what Mark was doing, staying out of the way, about an hour into his wandering. Heating up some leftovers, the mentor joined his trainee, “Let’s play some cards, shall we?”

“I’d rather read,” Mark said “Unless you’re gonna teach me more tricks.”

“Remy not in a teaching mood.”

“You see the Danger Room?”

“Dey got classes in dere.”

“Oh.”

“Which you should know.”

“I got a hit of Chuck’s powers on day one and he never quit trying to read my mind.”

“Den ya ain’t in a learning mood,  _ mon ami _ .” Gambit stood and stalked out. He had enough class to wait for the Professor to dismiss his students before storming in “You got a lot o’ nerve, Professor.” He spat the title. “He told you dat you was hurtin’ his head wit’ yo’ powers and you ain’t stopped.”

“Are you referring to Mark, Mr. LeBeau?” Charles asked, feigning ignorance and hoping the other man would give something away.

“Yeah, Ah am. Ah’ll take de other two down to Frost’s school in Massachusetts if Ah don’t t’ink Ah can trust ya.” 

“I understand, Mr. LeBeau, but has it occurred to you that perhaps Mark is simply overwhelmed by his collective powers?”

“Professor, Ah’d be a whole lot more willin’ to hear ya out if youse hadn’t skipped out on our little meet an’ greet. Looks to Remy like you afraid o’ being depowered.” Remy was leaning on the door, barring the next class entry “Sides, you ain’t da first psychic Gambit and Rogue encounter.” Horrid grammar aside, Charles realized that explained his struggle with getting a read on them. “Gambit gon’ make it real simple. Ya gonna stop or we Marauders gonna make you stop, forever.” Threat issued, the mutant thief left.

Finding a clearing in the woods, the Cajun practiced his martial arts. When the telepathic meddling stopped, Rogue sought out his partner. “How?”

“Told ‘im it do or die.”

Rogue wordlessly began his own exercises and Gambit stopped to watch, occasionally critiquing the younger mutant to help him improve. A few hours passed and they eventually moved onto cards, “You know that Chuck won’t stop? You only put him on notice, most mutants can’t defend themselves the way we can and he knows that.”

“Ah know.”

“I have a plan but Jimmy only owes you.”

“Ah’ll help, you de smart one.”

Rogue found his friends after school and brought them to the clearing to learn French curses, as promised. Remy also taught them mental defense and basic hand-to-hand before they had to emerge for dinner. Using his teachings led to startling discoveries, Jimmy didn’t need any coaxing to agree to shut the Professor down. By practicing real restraint and being a bit lazy, by his own standards, Remy built up his energy reserves. Taking Logan to the clearing they trained in, Remy focused on his time in Weapon X so Rogue would get those memories with his power. After charging up, Rogue touched Wolverine to transfer all of the relevant memories while reminding the old mutant “You have to make these your own before they fade.”

Laying back on the grass, Logan did as instructed. He went through the memories of him and tried to imagine them from his perspective with the hope that would help his mind fill in the blanks. To kill time as he did that, Remy taught Mark a new card game. Their presence was essential to keep the Professor away as Mark had learned to sense the old telepath’s invisible hand. Joining the trio for their daily martial arts lesson, Bobby asked “What’s going on?”

The partners-in-crime put a finger to their lips, Mark said “Logan’s going through some memories I gave him.”

Remy said “Class is cancelled today.”

His apprentice stood “Actually, I’m going to show you some more complex moves and Remy will teach you to spot so you can practice when we gone.”

“When are you leaving?” asked Jimmy.

“Day after tomorrow, maybe.” Mark said “We were never going to stay for long. Tomorrow, Jimmy, you need to do your part. We’ll stay for a day after that whilst things settle.” To be better understood the thief king mixed his natural tongue with his partner’s, creating a blend of Cajun and Yankee English.

“This is probably a dumb question,” Bobby said “But why do you call the way you talk a Yankee accent?”

Mark said “That is a dumb question, define Yankee.”

“Oh,” Bobby smiled “Told you.”

“I don’t call the way Remy talks a hillbilly accent because he’s not from the southern farmlands, he’s a swamp rat from the Bayou and proud of it. Now, let’s begin.”

Jubilee asked “Why'd you say Remy would only teach you to be a thief after you learned how to fight? Clearly you know how to fight.”

Mark looked at his mentor “Remy, may I?”

Pulling out a metal rod about 18 inches long and half an inch wide, Gambit tossed it to his partner “Certainly.”

With a careful flick of his wrist, Rogue extended the staff to its full length “As I get better at fighting, Remy teaches me more tricks of the trade. I'm only starting to learn to use this and it’s his signature weapon. I master a few moves, he teaches me how to use the five finger discount. Both fighting and stealing require confidence.”

“Oh, I get it.”

Remy stood up “How about you borrow one of Scotty’s cars and we can drive out to the city tonight?” He looked at the class “All of us, a night out 'fore me and Rogue move on.”

“Sounds good.” Rogue collapsed the bo staff, returned the weapon and hurried toward the school. He sought out Scott, “So, Remy wants to treat me and my friends to a night out but we can’t all fit in his car and I was wondering if we could borrow one of yours.”

“Sure.” Scott asked “How many?”

Rogue took a moment to do a mental headcount. “Nine, at least two drivers.” He admitted “I don’t have a license and if Remy ever did, it’s expired so when I win your bike, I'll just send you money for the insurance and stuff. Okay?”

Scott smiled “If you win my bike.”

“What do you know about mental defense? Remy caught Chuck trying to poke at his mind, which means he was probably doing the same thing to me and no amount of meditation is gonna fix the damage that does when it doesn’t stop.”

Scott admitted “The Professor set up all of our mental shields.”

“Do you ever call him anything that doesn’t include the word Professor? I'm asking because that sort of thing is a sign of brainwashing. It’s like how a cult member will always refer to the leader in reverence. Another sign is blind trust. That doesn’t mean you don’t question them, it means 'trust me' or some variation is all they have to say to shut you up. Your faith in them never wavers. I could give you more but I have a feeling you get the point. I was here a week, I explicitly said I was not going to stick around and Remy said the same thing. We made it clear we weren’t planning to stick around long enough to be a threat, we brought two mutant kids here. To pose a threat to your school is to threaten them. I get you need a powerful telepath to use Cerebro, but if said telepath is abusing his powers against guests then what are the chances he’s not abusing you?”

“What do you suggest?”

“Get Storm and follow me. Remy and I already taught my friends to defend their minds. If we do the same with you then you can help fix the damage he’s done after tomorrow.”

“What happens tomorrow?”

“I'm sorry but until you can defend yourself against him, I ain’t gonna risk telling you anything. I need those car keys.”

In the clearing, Mark had his hands in his coat pockets as he came to a stop at the edge. He kept his leather jacket open on school grounds for two reasons. First, as a sign of respect, a silent promise not to steal. Second, to avoid suspicion. Even though he'd had clean clothes available for days now, he was still wearing the same getup he'd arrived in. Remy didn’t push him to change or shower. The elder thief only changed clothes every other day or so and cycled through the same two outfits, never without his trenchcoat. They had very different reasons for their subtle disrespect. Mark liked to annoy their hosts, having come to the realization that only Charles was aware of his existence and thus to blame for their inaction. The prim and proper Professor hated his lack of hygiene. Remy was both supporting his partner and out of practice as far as proper hygiene, like doing laundry, was concerned. Mark said “They wanna learn our mind tricks. You could teach Scotty control,  _ non _ ? (no)“

“ _ Oui _ . (yes)“

Standing in front of their chosen two students, Mark said “Fear works well for this but for simplicity, let’s use extreme opposites. We're gonna need you to split your focus if you want this to work. Hot or cold?”

“Hot,” answered Scott.

“Cold, I guess,” said Storm.

Gambit led Cyke away and they first broke Chuck’s connection before helping them develop mental defenses. Turning to the pair, Rogue said, “Now, I'd like to point out that despite Jimmy’s presence, Logan’s not aging to death and you're further away from Blackout.  _ Excusez-moi  _ (excuse me).” Remy ran through a few exercises with Scott, then Mark swiped the other mutant’s shades. “Like I said, you're out of range.”

A moment later, Scott realized that he hadn’t instinctively shut his eyes with the young mutant so close. “Thank you.”

“No, you say  _ Merci _ not thank you. “ Holding up the glasses, Mark asked “Can I have these when you're done tomorrow? We'll stay for one more day after that then we gotta move.”

Scott nodded “You can have ‘em now.”

To Jimmy, “You wanna do this now?”

“Sure,” answered the shy mutant.

“Alright, let’s stage an intervention to free a bird.” As soon as the words left his mouth, Mark’s hands went up “I mean that a lot more literally than you think. You'll see.”

Rogue ran off with Jimmy and everyone turned to Remy “Ah don’t know what Rogue referring to. Ah assume he talking about what Charles done to Doc Grey but Ah have no idea what dat got ta do wit' birds.” He told Scott “You need ta get yo' girl if dis is gon’ work.”

Logan served as a meter for Jimmy’s power, which shut down his healing factor and was thus deadly to him. He stood on the edge of his range, enabling Rogue to say when confronting the Professor “Y'know the difference between you and me? I'm not in Blackout range.” He turned to Jean, did something nobody could see and began talking fast “Think about everyone else he’s hurt, don’t let them die because of him.” She took one step towards Charles and suddenly, whatever had taken her over was gone. Rogue matched her step “That would be Jimmy cutting off your power. Welcome to my world, Doc Grey.”

“How do you live like this?”

“First off, I have no choice. Second, you only have this problem because of him. Locking up your power, putting the Phoenix in a cage- Scotty please don’t make everyone here a witness to a capital crime- and now that the bird is free, you are a separate entity. If not for Chucky deciding he knows better than Mother Nature, you would've had your full powers a long time ago and the Phoenix might not be what it is today. However, a killer can’t run a school.”

Jean and Scott both stared at him, Logan asked “What do you suggest?”

“Jean steps back, knocks him out and you take care of the problem. Even if he was just missing, Chucky’s estate would be inheritable.”

“Rogue and I can take care of this  _ fils de putain _ . (son of a whore)“

“Or Gambit and I can take care of it.” Rogue agreed, “I still think the Phoenix should deal the biggest blow.” Jean took a step back “Remember, you gotta take care of the other victims. Don’t let him ruin you.” The old telepath slumped and Rogue took advantage of being in Blackout range to check his pulse. “Good. Now you take all of his secrets. Don’t let a single victim escape your notice. Lock down his power, if you could, for me.”

Her voice had a dark quality when she said “Done.”

“Alright, one more thing,” he carefully approached her, “You need to sleep, to block out all distractions and find balance between your two halves. Trust Scott, don’t let Chuck ruin your life.”

The Phoenix turned to Scott Summers, who promptly took off his glasses and held them out to Mark “I think we're done early.”

“Awesome,” he pocketed the glasses “And your bike?”

“You win the bet.”

“ _ Merci _ .” He went back to Charles, “It’s really up to you what happens to him but might I suggest that you put him wherever you put Mystique. Let her go with a message for Magneto, you know she’s gonna find a way to get in contact with him.”

“What’s the message?” asked Scott.

“The Phoenix Has Awakened. Magneto was there when Jean was recruited, he'd probably understand what that means.”

“Alright.”

“Cool.” Rogue asked “Does this,” gesturing to Charles' slumped form “mean class is cancelled tomorrow? If it does then my friends and I can stay out longer than expected.”

“Yeah,” Scott said, “At least for tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow’s a Friday, right?”

“I think so.”

“Alright, I got what I wanted out of this. Imma go shower and change before we head out.”

“Wait, you mean-”

“Remy brought some.” Mark hurried out of the office and to his room. When he came down in a clean long sleeve shirt and fingerless biker gloves, his friends were waiting for him by the door.

“You clean up nice,” commented Jubilee.

Jane agreed “Yeah, what’s up with the-” she pointed to his hand.

“Oh, I have to wear the leather unless I have enough of a charge to resist leeching energy. Remy gave me that charge before I gave Logan those memories he was going through when you showed up.” He clapped his hands together “Now, we got two cars so who’s riding with me and who’s riding with Remy. Unless, of course, one of you has a license then you can drive.”

“Do you have a license?” asked Kitty.

“No but I can drive, Remy taught me when we became partners.”

Scott joined them briefly “Here’s the keys to my bike, a deal’s a deal.”

Rogue tossed the keys to Remy, who had a coat with pockets on. “ _ Merci _ .”

Peter said “I can drive, legally.”

“Okay.” Mark tossed him the keys to Scott’s car and Remy pulled out his own car keys. “Who’s riding with who?”

Jimmy said “Actually, I was thinking that Kurt and I could stay here. I wanna help Dr. Grey with the Phoenix and-”

“I vould like to try out ve Danger Room,” finished Kurt.

“Still seven of us and five seats per car.”

Jubilee said “I'll ride with Remy.”

Kitty said “I'll go with Peter.”

Bobby said “Peter.”

Jane said “Then you and me can ride with Remy, Mark.”

“Works for me.” Rogue asked his partner “What about you?”

“Dat works.”

They were out past curfew, Remy showing them all of the city’s hidden secrets. Peter and Kitty were sickeningly sweet for a while, asking the Cajun casanova for advice and denying their mutual crush. Rogue got tired of the song and dance fast, “Oh my God, you are both hopeless. Everyone knows that you like each other, except apparently you.”

Surprised, the pair looked at each other “Really?” They spent the rest of the night taking advantage of their irresponsible chaperone. Jubilee thought it was adorable, Bobby called it sickeningly sweet, Jane just smiled and stole glances at Mark. Remy saw all and smiled to himself.

Scott was waiting up when they returned “It’s past curfew.”

“I thought curfew only counted on school nights,” Mark returned his car keys and moved onto his room with Remy.

The master thief apologized “I got a little carried away.  _ Je suis désolé monsieur _ .(I'm sorry, sir)“

Scott sent the students upstairs before asking Remy “Are you really leaving tomorrow?”

“No, day after.”

“Okay.”

“Why?”

“We might need you to stick around a bit longer, just to have a few extra adults while we figure out how to handle things.”

“Who you got running this place?”

Remy tried to talk more like Mark than the n’Awlins native boy he was. Their exercise had already borne fruit, people really did understand him better if he did a Yankee accent. Despite being fluent in both Louisiana French and the standard dialect that’s taught in schools outside the Bayou, Mark struggled with the accent. Some words he couldn’t say without the accent, others he butchered trying to sound Cajun. Remy was proud of himself for mastering the boy’s way of talking.

Scott looked at the other mutant, “Did you just-?”

“We been practicing each other’s accents for quite some time.”

“Okay,” Scott filed that away “Jean and I-”

“Which one of you is in charge of the finances? Ah'm very successful, Ah can help ya pay fer all dis. Ah just need to know how much you need and the relevant information, let’s say, to do a transfer.”

“You can’t launder money through us.”

Remy pretended to be hurt “Ya wound Remy,  _ monsieur _ .” Realizing he'd accidentally switched back to his native tongue, he picked up the Yankee accent again “We still have trouble keeping each other’s accents going, me an’ Rogue. Look, I'm offering to keep you going until you get back on your feet, until you figure things out. If it helps, consider it a loan to be paid back at yer own speed.”

“That’s not how a loan works but thanks.”

“A debt then. How often did the Professor pay you? He had to pay you regularly for tax reasons.”

“What are you getting at?”

“If you got paid weekly then every week you spend on my dime is one favor you owe me. Four of those and I can cash it in no questions asked. I know that’s not how this works but I assume you're gonna need some time to go through the Professor’s files to find his funds. I'm offering you a lifeline but I don’t want to offend you at the same time. We do this as debts the way I understand them then that’s one less thing to worry about. Where I'm from, honor and reputation is everything. So I swear on my honor not to sully your reputation with this debt.”

“Okay. Can you and Mark stick around for a little bit longer to help us find some things?”

“Sure. You don’t know the school’s account information, do you?”

“Uh, no.”

“Rogue and I will go through his things while you rework the school schedule and yer girl sorts through her stolen knowledge, leave Logan and Ororo free to supervise the students.”

“That'll work. Thank you.”

“Now didn’t Rogue tell you dat we don’t say thank you, we say  _ Merci _ . Y'know Kurt is from Germany, right?”

“Yeah, so?”

“So he’s bilingual like Rogue.”

“Which means he can help with foreign languages.” Scott felt stupid when he only then remembered “Ororo is from Egypt.”

“Really? You tracked her blood that far back?”

“I mean she grew up there.”

“Oh, that makes more sense. Even if you find his funds, the Professor must've been doing something to make money or this place woulda closed down a long time ago.”

“You'll keep us afloat while we figure out what.”

“Once we got some numbers, we can figure out tuition for Jimmy and Kurt.”

“Why do you use their real names and Mark’s codename?”

“It ain’t a codename, number one. Number two, a mark is what you call a target in our world. Number three, Ah call myself bot' Remy and Gambit. Number four, Rogue prefers to be called Rogue after all he’s been through. Five, his name ain’t really Mark no more, dat’s just a formality 'cause he won’t go home and have his mama sign the papers dat would make him her problem no more.” Remy said “Lotta reasons. Well, g'night.”

The next day, Remy grabbed his partner’s arm to stop him from leaving “We gon’ be helpin’ our hosts sort through da Professor’s files today.”

“Really?” His voice was nearly a whine.

“If they can’t find their money then they gon’ be shut down.”

“Okay, Remy. Let go.” The master thief did.

Together, they got some breakfast and settled down in Charles' office. Rifling through the desk drawers, they each take an empty notebook to work out of. Going through the files was a slow and tedious process. Logan visited a few hours in “Your friends just woke up, how long have you been at it?”

Mark answered “I don’t know, a few hours.”

“It’s lunchtime if you’re hungry.”

Gambit perked up while Rogue simply kept working, the older thief said “Ah’ll get us both some chow.”

“Actually,” Rogue stood “We need to talk to Scott and Doc Grey anyway. They’re gonna need to know their way around these files, they might as well enjoy the fun part.” After lunch, the partners in crime returned with the new owners, “Okay. Turns out finances are one of those things where more hands make heavy work. What we really need to do is sort everything so that I’m not flipping between tax forms and old student files. By we, I mean you.” He gave the teachers a pleading look “I spent more time trying to explain things to Remy than actually counting money.”

Remy added “Plus, y’all need to know where everything is at.”

They got to work, giving Rogue the financial records and going through everything else on their own. The boy was amazing with numbers, having managed his mentor’s accounts for some time. When he finished with all the financial records they could find in the office, Rogue said “This makes no sense.”

“What?” asked Scott.

“Okay, so the school was originally funded by the Xavier estate, that much is true. But I’m seeing records from something called the Mutant Research Center, looks like it’s on some Muir Island if I’m reading this right, but what doesn’t make sense is that the Center seems to be both funded by and funding the school. Of course, Chuck was brilliant when he was making the files. I can only find some references in these files. He didn’t keep the finances with everything else. That’s brilliant because if the government ever tried to go through the books, they would be hard pressed to find anything-” he gestured vaguely “Chuck’s doctorate is in genetics, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Mutant Research Center, that could be related to his field. Muir Island, I have no idea where that is. None of it is damning.” Mark looked up “The only problem is that it can’t be classified as a source of funds or an investment, but I’m not a professional so I don’t know if that’s actually a problem.” A thoughtful look crossed his face, “If he didn’t keep files together then what are the chances we have all the files here?”

Remy stood up “Ah’ll look.”

“One problem,” his mentor stopped at the door and looked at him, “You don’t know where you’re going. Either Scotty or Doc Grey should go, they know where Chuck spent his time and what rooms he made off limits.”

“Maybe, Ah’ll help.”

Scott stood, “Sure. You can pick locks, right?”

“Of course,” the master thief was offended by the implication.

Moving from Xavier’s desk to the student desks the others were working from, Rogue asked “Need a hand? I don’t think Remy’s gonna need to fund you and I know he offered. The thing is, you’re gonna have to-” he ran a finger across his throat “And make it look like an accident. You can’t destroy the body, you need a death certificate to inherit this place. Someone should tell Magneto that his old friend is dead, ‘the Phoenix has awakened’ doesn’t really do the job if the messenger saw the Professor alive.”

“All good points. We haven’t actually released Mystique yet.”

“Then we should meet with her properly. Give her the message and motive to leave in peace. Maybe you could turn your enemies into allies.”

“Maybe.”

“I’m gonna do something with you that I’d never normally do with a telepath. No offense but your kind gives me headaches.” He opened his mind and projected an invitation. Jean accepted and got to see the controlled chaos that was his mind, “Try to make yours like mine.”

Closing her eyes, Jean found peace with the Phoenix. With that done, Rogue changed the scene in his mind that Jean is privy to. “How-?”

“I’m just trying to help.”

Under his guidance, Jean gets a handle on herself just as Remy and Scott return. Logan and Peter followed them, all four carrying boxes of files. The rest of the day carried on as the early part had before Rogue finished running numbers. Through a small miracle, they get all of the finances and files sorted that day. Once his job was completely done, Rogue left the adults to talk.

Saturday, Rogue and Remy’s last day at the Mansion. The adults had spent the whole night sorting through files, trying to make sense of the things Xavier had done to maintain the school. Gambit had decided they’d leave an hour after dinner to give everyone time to sleep and say goodbye. His apprentice took a shower before switching back to his leather clothes at around midday.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translations:  
Couillon- turd or imbecile  
Je suis désolé monsieur. - I'm sorry, sir.


End file.
